In a perfect world, every romantic comedy would try to be more like “Silver Linings Playbook.” Sure a movie about finding love while dealing with serious mental illness sounds like a recipe for disaster, writer/director David O. Russell spun it into gold and put together a cast that earned Oscar nominations in every acting category including a win for Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence. This is a movie worth all the hype and perfect for an at-home date night.
Also out on DVD this week Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg collect a paycheck.
“Silver Linings Playbook”
Sometimes a movie gives you the opportunity to hang out with interesting people, lets you root for them to overcome their personal challenges, and then wrap it all up with big happy endings. “Silver Linings Playbook” is such a movie as Lawrence and Bradley Cooper fall for each other all while precariously clinging to sanity. With a supporting cast featuring Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, and Chris Tucker this movie delivers on all fronts and makes a pretty convincing argument that being a Philadelphia Eagles fan will make you crazy.
“Broken City”
Mark Wahlberg plays a cop turned P.I. and Russell Crowe plays a morally challenged mayor of New York City. Throw in Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barry Pepper, and Kyle Chandler and you have a fantastically cast, over-long, run-of-the-mill episode of “Law & Order.” Oh wait, it’s actually a movie called “Broken City.” My mistake.
